Monday, 16 January 2017

Pigeons falling out of the sky in India: Bird-flu continues its explosive pandemic around the globe

The map above shows the explosion across
the globe of avian-flu, the yellow square indicate bird only outbreaks, while
the red squares indicate where the virus has spread to humans.

Humans can be infected with avian and other zoonotic influenza viruses, such as avian influenza virus subtypes A(H5N1), A(H7N9), and A(H9N2) and swine influenza virus subtypes A(H1N1) and (H3N2).

Human infections are primarily acquired through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, but do not result in efficient transmission of these viruses between people.

There is no evidence that the avian or zoonotic influenza viruses can infect humans through properly cooked food.
Avian and other zoonotic influenza infections in humans may cause disease ranging from mild conjunctivitis to severe pneumonia and even death.

The majority of human cases of A(H5N1) and A(H7N9) infection have been associated with direct or indirect contact with infected live or dead poultry. WHO.

As bird-flu continues its explosive pandemic
around the globe I have yet to hear any mention of it on MSM even as new
outbreaks are happening continuously on a daily basis.

In India nearly a hundred pigeons have died in a far-flung village in Odisha's Kendrapara district, triggering panic in the wake of the bird flu scare gripping the state.
A district veterinary official said on 16 January that avian species are dying almost daily along the seaside in Mahakalpada tehsil.
Last week, the deaths of chickens was reported in nearby areas.
Similarly, a rare breed of sheep is thought to have died from bird-flu.
The death of animals and winged species has made people apprehensive as they fear that bird flu has hit the localities in Mahakalpada tehsil, said former Sarpanch, Bijoy Shukla.
After death of pigeons was reported, a team of veterinary surgeons has rushed to the village to take stock of the situation.
Blood samples have been collected for laboratory test of the samples, Sethy said.
After the pathological test, the exact cause of the pigeons' death could be ascertained, however avian-flu is suspected.

Also in India, State Animal Animal Husbandry department personnel culled 150 birds found positive with avian influenza infection on Thursday night.
"Their samples were sent to Bhopal one week ago and in the meanwhile the samples have tested positive," said Municipal Medical Officer (health) Dr Bhavin Solanki on Friday. He said the birds included guinea fowls and ducks.

Birdflu has broken out in the central part of Uganda, a senior ministry of agriculture official said on Saturday.
Connie Acayo, the spokesperson of the ministry told Xinhua by telephone that confirmatory test of dead birds on Lutembe beach on the shores of Lake Victoria and in Masaka district showed that the disease had broken out.
"It is a very serious disease and the minister of agriculture will be issuing out a statement on Sunday," she said.
Uganda is among the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that face a high risk of a bird flu outbreak because it is crisscrossed by several routes for migratory birds, which are carriers of the virus.

In Europe Spain reported a case of the highly contagious H5N8 bird flu virus in wild geese in the northern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Thursday, citing a report from the Spanish ministry of agriculture.
Two infected wild geese were found dead in the Castile and Leon region, the ministry said, adding that it had increased surveillance of poultry farms in the area.
The H5N8 strain, which is deadly for poultry but has not been found in humans, has spread across Europe and the Middle East since late last year, leading to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of poultry and the confinement of flocks indoors. Italy also declared a first outbreak of H5N8, detected in a wild duck, on Thursday.